PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 14, 2023--

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by journalists and open government advocates who sought to require her office to respond to public record requests, and a state panel agreed Wednesday to pay more than $100,000 in attorney fees. Reynolds settled the lawsuit about two months after the Iowa Supreme Court refused to dismiss the case filed by two media organizations and a nonprofit advocacy group. The court unanimously rejected the governor's argument that her office wasn't required to respond in a timely manner to record requests and that she could bypass the state's open records law by simply ignoring the requests. The organizations filed the lawsuit in 2021, claiming the governor had violated Iowa’s open records law by ignoring government record requests. The reporters had emailed the governor’s office with eight different open-record requests between April 2020 and April 2021 and renewed each request at least once. In each case, they received no response until filing a lawsuit in December 2021. In a statement, the governor's office acknowledged the settlement but said problems stemmed from demands during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The COVID-19 response put unprecedented demands on the governor’s team to meet the immediate needs of Iowans," Kollin Crompton, the governor's deputy communications director, said in a statement. "As a result, responses to requests were unintentionally delayed, which is not acceptable. Our office has assessed our internal processes and we continue to reevaluate the process to improve timeliness.” Earlier Wednesday, the State Appeal Board approved $135,000 to cover legal fees for the organizations, though the one Democrat on the three-member board objected. Auditor Rob Sand said state law intends that those who violate the open records law should pay fees related to the violation and a fine. The settlement, he noted, pays the fees with public money and doesn't include a fine. “These insiders have no shame," Sand said in a statement. “They abuse your rights, and then want to use your money to pay for having abused you.” The organization are the liberal-leaning Bleeding Heartland blog, Iowa Capital Dispatch and Iowa Freedom of Information Council, which focuses on open government issues. The ACLU of Iowa, which represented the organizations, said the settlement will be official later this month when the court accepts the agreement. The ACLU said the agreement also required a year of judicial oversight over the governor's office's compliance with the state open records law as well as court fees. The governor also settled separate lawsuits filed by an attorney who sued after not receiving records about COVID-19 testing contracts. The State Appeal Board approved about $40,000 to settle that case. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

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CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 11, 2023--

China’s top leaders will likely hold off on unveiling aggressive stimulus or big economic reforms at a key

Adele emotionally paused her Las Vegas residency show after spotting someone very special in the audience. Dressed as Morticia Addams for her Halloween-themed concert, the star waded through the crowd singing her hit 'When We Were Young'. In the middle of the song, she can be heard saying "shut up" as she apologised and said: "Sorry! Will you sing it for me? That man delivered my baby! I haven’t seen you for years." She hugged the doctor, as the audience erupted into "awwws". Footage of the heartwarming moment soon spread to social media, with one fan writing: "Adele has the most audience awareness ever." Another added: "Adele be giving the most shout-outs during her shows and doesn’t give a damn how it changes the flow." Meanwhile, a third wrote: "Adele is so kind and so loving. She's a real super star." @mu5icology ? #adele #music #concert During the same show, Adele acknowledged the tragic death of Friends star Matthew Perry. "It is always so shocking, especially someone that made you laugh and who brought so much joy to your life that you don't know," she said. "This is what I find so strange, I never met him in my life. There is something, you feel so sad about it especially because you don't necessarily know what was going on." She added: "I'll remember that character for the rest of my life," before praising him for being "incredibly, incredibly brave" for being open about his "struggles with addiction and sobriety". How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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